What are the keywords of advice you would share with anyone who needs to accelerate the introduction, adoption, and profitability of digital content and products globally in 2018? While I have been asked this question several times for the last couple of months, my answer has been very similar regardless of industry and background. Think about investing in meeting the level of authenticity and empathy that your local customers require!

Amazon Turns to Crowdsourcing to Decide What to Publish

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The Digital Reader reported back in September that Amazon was recruiting Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) authors to submit unpublished manuscripts to a crowdsourcing program that will allow readers to decide which books editors should consider for publishing. (You can join the mailing list here.)

The program took another step forward when it sent out an email with more details to writers. According to the email Amazon is "looking for 50,000 words or more in Word format and a book cover image that reflects the essence and uniqueness of your book. Make sure your work is ready for others to read. Only the first pages will be posted to the website (approx. 3,000 words)."

Readers can then vote for books they'd like to see in print, though Amazon editors will make the final decision. In many ways this idea isn't anything new. For instance, HarperCollins has hosted Authonomy.com for years, a community where writers could display their work, and vote on which books they thought deserved to be read by editors.

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For almost as long as there have been books, there have been authors trying to get their manuscripts in front of an acquisitions editor. Today, there are many roads that can lead writers to professional publication. While the destination is often the same, new routes are emerging all the time.